Favorite Teams

run is a battlefield

Sometimes I think running the streets of Staten Island is scarier than running the High Rock Challenge. Cars could give an ish about you. Try crossing Richmond Ave frogger style when you have the walk signal - it gets a little dicey. And then you got motorists blaring the horn at you like you're wrong. I'm just trying to run, man. You see me sweatin, right?

The potholes are like mine shafts. You might disappear forever falling into one. And some of the curbs are as high as hurdles, particularly on those crinkle-cut, corrugated streets. And trying to navigate those jacked-up roads is an undertaking in and of itself - all kinds of unevenness, sudden dips, and gravel (I LOve the gravel!). I'm pretty much counting on skinning my knees (again) at some point.

Even pedestrians bother me. It doesn't occur to them to move over or single file-it along the sidewalk, so then I'm left side-leaping into what is usually an extra soggy patch of grass. Curses!

Sidewalks are completely unsafe. Especially at night it's incredibly difficult to see cracks so high and so jagged you could take out a hip or two. Then on the flip-side there are blocks with no sidewalk safety net whatsoever and so I'm hugging parked cars, constantly looking over my shoulder, thinking of how i'll invent an attachable side-view mirror to wear on my arm.

It's chaos out there. Running has become more than just a workout, it's a test of survival. Maybe it's best to invest in one of these.